


The Many Timelines of the MCU

by swanpride



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1970 Timeline Split, 2012 Timeline Split, 2013 Timeline Split, 2014 Timeline Split, Alternate Timelines, Canon Timeline, Cap Timeline Split, Gen, Meta, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26008951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanpride/pseuds/swanpride
Summary: An exploration of the question, how time-travel works in the MCU as well as the various timelines which have been created so far
Kudos: 9





	The Many Timelines of the MCU

So, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has ended last week, meaning now is the perfect time to discuss the various timelines which currently exist in the MCU. But before I delve into them, I think it makes sense to discuss the various theories regarding time-travel in fiction and which ones apply to the MCU.

**Theory 1: The changeable timeline**

I will discuss this one first and very briefly, because of all the time-travel theories which exist, this is the only one the MCU (mostly) rejects. So much so, that it is outright stated in Endgame that “Back to the Future”, most likely the most famous fictional take on this idea, is nonsense.

Now, the idea in “Back to the Future” is that there is one timeline, and if you start to mess with it, you are changing the timeline as a whole. It is also dealing with the Grandfather paradox, meaning that if you travel through time and kill your own grandfather before your parents are born, you basically kill yourself. The issue with storytelling around such a concept is that it is easy to fall from one logical problem to the next, and “Back to the Future” is the best example for this, since the movies make a number of logical leaps for the sake of their narrative. For starters: If the timeline changes the moment Marty interferes, he should vanish immediately and not with this strange delay. If the timeline changes, Marty should remember his changed past. If Biff travels into the past in order to gift himself the sports almanac, it should be impossible for him to travel back the future he came from, because that future (and this version of himself) no longer exist from this moment forward. In short, there is a lot of handwaving required to make the story work. Which is most likely why the MCU rejects this notion whole-heartedly.

Granted, there are a few exceptions to the “you can’t change your own timeline” rule in the MCU. Exception number one is turning back the time via the time stone. Seemingly this can only be done for a few minutes, but you can basically go back those minutes and then force the timeline in another direction. The other is the so called “time-loop” situation. If you are stuck in a time-loop it is possible break out of it at any place of the loop, and that regardless of how big the loop is (as seen in the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

**Theory 2: The Unchangeable Timeline**

That one is best explained by Fitz in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode “Spacetime”. In short: Time is just another dimension we can’t perceive fully, hence time isn’t changeable. If one follows that theory, it doesn’t really matter if you travel around in time and try to change something, everything you do always has or will happen. Famous movies which are build on this concept are the first Terminator movie (but not the ones which followed, the sequels reverted to Theory 1 and are consequently quite a logical mess), The Prisoner of Azkaban and the 12 Monkeys. The MCU at least plays with this concept. In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are multiple instances where a clairvoyant has to accept his or her own fate, because the future isn’t really changeable for them, though there is also one case in which the change is successful. And naturally Fitzsimmons manage to make changes to the main timeline by creating a loop in which the team basically saves himself in the finale episode. At one point there are no less than three versions of Jemma briefly in the same timeline: the version which is on her way to a far away Galaxy to plan their future time travel, the version which came back from the future to pick up the team, and the version which is just back from the alternate time-line which was created in the past. And all three version of Jemma are necessary so that the timeline can exist in the way it is.

**Theory 3: The Multiverse**

That one is clearly the MCU’s favourite. In this theory you can’t change your own past, but you can change your future and you can travel back in time and create alternative timelines. There is an “extreme” form of this theory, which says that for every decision someone makes, there is an alternative universe. In the MCU it is suggested, that this is more a “ripples vs waves” affair, as Deke would say. To clarify that theory: If you go back in time, you won’t necessarily create a new timeline just by being there. You can, for example, remove an infinity stone, but the timeline remains unchanged if you come back immediately and give it back. Basically, the timeline in which the infinity stone left briefly would move back over or bleed into the timeline in which it never did.

The advantage of this time travel theory on a narrative level is that there is no danger that the time-travel will undo something what happened to the characters. It sidesteps a lot of the usual problem like the grandfather paradox, because in this theory, if you change the past too much, you simply create a new timeline, but the one you left originally, that one still exists. And you don’t necessarily create new timelines with every step you make, there is some wriggle room for the writers. So no wonder that the MCU went with this concept.

* * *

So, which timelines currently exist? I will list them backwards, and add some thoughts about the various splits (including some potential ones). But before I do this, I think I should get into the difference between the time heist the Avengers did in Endgame, and the Chronicom hunt Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did in season 7. What the Avengers did was jumping at various points of their own timeline, running the risk of creating a split at every point they jumped to. What the Agents did was to jump back to the past and then following in the wake of the Chronicom forwards. Meaning, the moment the timeline split, they were following this new timeline and were also part of it from the get go. Consequently, what they did created one split, not a potential new one with each time jump like the Avengers did. Hence by my count, there are currently at least five timelines in the MCU (including the main timeline), possible up to eight. And each of them has something to offer for the creative fanfiction writer.

  1. **The Main Timeline**



That is the timeline we have seen in the MCU so far. In this timeline, Thanos managed to snap half of the population of the universe out of existence, until the Avengers managed to reverse the snap five years later. This timeline is perfect for the kind of writer, who likes to write canon-compliant stories and/or missing scenes.

  1. **The Apocalyptic Timeline**



That one split of shortly before the snap. In this timeline, which was covered in the fifth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Earth was destroyed and the surviving humans were under the control of the Kree for the next 74 years, at which point the humans (encouraged by a bunch of familiar time-travellers) rebelled and created a new Earth with the help of Inhuman Flint. It isn’t really clear if the snap happened in this reality or not, since it is possible that the destruction of earth threw a spanner into Thanos plans. But it is extremely likely that in this reality, the Avengers all died on the day earth got destroyed. Hence this timeline has little to offer for writers, who are really into writing about Avengers and friends (unless one uses an excuse to send them into this reality), but for someone who always wanted to write about a group of humans shaping a new earth and a new society, well, this is the best timeline to do this.

  1. **The 2014 Split**



In this reality, there is no Thanos, since that Thanos (along with Nebula and Gamora) jumped to the main Timeline. For writers who don’t really want to deal with the events of Infinity war, and rather want to write stories about Peter Parker doing field trips to Stark industries, this is the perfect time-line to play around in. The only downside of this one: No Gamora which might mean that this timeline most likely has no Guardians of the Galaxy either. But even that can be a lot of fun. What would have happened if Quill had never become a hero but instead had tried to emancipate himself from Yondu on his own? If Ego had never discovered where Quill was, hence there had never been a reason for Yondu to sacrifice himself for him? What would have happened to Ronan and the Power stone in this reality? There is a lot to mine there.

  1. **The 2013 Split?**



This is the least likely split of them all. Provided that Cap went back and inserted the aether back into Jane, this timeline most likely continued on the planned path. But what if he hadn’t? In this case Thor would have no reason whatsoever to escape Asgard and bring Jane to Malekith. And therefore, no reason to free Loki either. Who never gets to replace Odin, which will derail the whole chain of events which lead to Ragnarok. Meaning that Thanos might end up attacking Asgard in order to get to the Tesseract.

  1. **The 2012 Split**



Yeah, the Avengers messed up this time-line for good. Worst of all: It would have most likely been messed up even if their plan had gone off without a hitch. Alone the fact that Hydra thought Cap was one of them could have caused problems, not to mention what nearly dying would have done to Tony’s trust in his arc reactor. But now there is also Loki on the loose with the tesseract, Steve wondering why his double claimed that Bucky is still alive, and if the sceptre doesn’t find its way back to Hydra, Wanda and Quicksilver will never be thing, and Vision becomes a huge question mark, since it is difficult to tell how Age of Ultron would play out (if it plays out at all) in a changed timeline. In any case, writers who are into domestic Avengers, or Avengers who manage to defeat Thanos, who want a timeline in which the GotG are still a thing but Infinity War didn’t happen or ended differently, this is the timeline to play in.

  1. **The 1970 Split?**



Remember what I said above about the ripple vs wave theory? Well, it isn’t really clear if the Avengers actions in 1970 caused a ripple or a wave. Tony talking to Howards about fatherhood might have caused an unintentional change in him. And if it did, well, at best Tony had a few daddy issues less but the story still played out roughly the same. At worst (or at best for a creative writer), this small change created a butterfly effect, leading to Tony being less self-destructive and less bitter over Cap. In this reality, Tony might not be as easily manipulated by Obadiah, might never get kidnapped in Afghanistan, might never become Ironman. And if he did, he might have a better relationship with Cap, which would lead to a different outcome in Civil War. Basically, this is the universe to play in for the kind of writer, who would like Tony to have a different childhood.

  1. **The 1932 or 1955 Split**



This is the split which was created when the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. went after the Chronicoms. Thus said, it isn’t really clear at which point the timeline actually split. If I had to guess, the actions of the Agents in 1932 was more a ripple than a wave. After all, the main players all ended up in the same place where they were supposed to end up in history. Unless one of the people who got killed by the Chronicoms were particularly important, this could have all been part of the original timeline all along. But in 1955, when the Chronicoms decided to leave one of their people to meddle with the timeline, everything went off the rails. So at least I think that everything which happened up to 1955 was roughly exactly what happened in the main timeline too, and that is the point at which it got pushed off the rails. In any case though, this timeline is completely different from what we know. Are Peggy and Howard even still alive in this one? And if the Chronicoms took out all S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, does this mean they took out all the undercover Hydra agents too, and Deke can now rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. as what it was always meant to be? And what will he do with all the knowledge he might or might not have of the future? In short, this is the perfect timeline for writers who really want to go crazy, big time.

  1. **The Cap Split?**



There are two different statements regarding the appearance of Old Cap: Marcus and McFeely claimed that he was around all along (meaning he was always meant to go back and be with Peggy), the Russo brothers said he created a new timeline. Both is possible, both ideas come with a different set of problems. The “Cap was always meant to go back” idea is a little bit cleaner, but it also suggests that Cap chose a life which must have been the hell on earth for him. Can anyone really imagine him not doing something about the biggest catastrophes which happened in the last 70 years? Can anyone believe that he could be content living his apple-pie-live knowing that somewhere Bucky is tortured by Hydra? That he would sit quietly at home while Bucky kills Howard and Maria Stark? Yeah, I can’t imagine this either. Hence, I am leaning more towards the alternate timeline version. This would allow him to shape a better future. The only downside of that idea is that in that reality there still is a Cap who will eventually wake up to a world which has already been shaped by a different version of himself. That has to be confusing. Still, for Steggy shippers, this might be the best timeline to play with. One can even decide in which year Steve decides to turn up.

* * *

So, up to eight timelines, a lot of potential material for new stories. I am sure though that the MCU will eventually split into even more timelines. If this happens, I promise an update.


End file.
